Continuity 2 turns student game into an addictive iOS puzzler

Continuity 2 is the sequel to last year's Independent Games Festival student …

Continuity 2: The Continuation is the sequel to a game you likely haven't heard of. That's because the original was a student project, a browser-based puzzle game with a marvelously inventive mechanic but all-too-short playtime. Now the same two-man team is bringing the game to the iPhone, but in the form of a sequel as opposed to a simple port. Ars spoke to Guy Lima Jr., one half of developer Ragtime Games, about the differences between working a student game compared to a commercial release and why making a sequel was the right choice.

As with most puzzle games, the basic goal of Continuity 2 is relatively simple. You run through a series of levels, and in each one you'll need to find a key so that you can exit through the door. The twist is in the way the levels are constructed. Each stage consists of a series of cards which you can move around to create your path. It's initially confusing, but soon enough becomes second nature. That mechanic is what made the original student project so intriguing, but it's not what made the duo of Lima Jr. and Stefan Mikaelsson from Ragtime excited about bringing the game to the iPhone.

"We thought doing a port would just be kind of boring," Lima Jr. told Ars. "We’re more interested in the design aspect of game making than the implementation aspect, so we wouldn't have been too excited about just re-implementing the same thing we just did."

Porting also proved to be a technical challenge, as the original Continuity featured levels designed with a large monitor in mind, and so it wouldn't have worked very well on the iPhone's screen. Because of this, each and every one of the levels in the sequel is completely new.

In addition to the obvious touch controls, the new game features a few other improvements over its predecessor. You now collect coins through each stage which serve as checkpoints, so that when you fall to your death or are impaled on some spikes, you don't need to start all over again. The levels themselves, meanwhile, are tighter and more focused.

"It’s not that we’re trying to specifically make the game easier," explained Lima Jr., "just less frustrating."

Continuity 2: The Continuation

There are also several new mechanics—which we won't spoil for you here—that make the game feel like a proper and satisfying sequel. The team at Ragtime benefitted not only from the learning experience of developing the first Continuity, but also simply from having more time. The first game was created in just eight weeks, whereas the sequel had enough time to be properly play-tested. Without that additional time and experience, features like checkpoints might not have been implemented.

For completionists there's now also time limits and achievments to add some replayability, which is due in large part to the fact that the game is no longer free.

"We've been a lot more concerned with trying to make it feel high quality so people don't regret spending their money on it," Lima Jr. told Ars. "We never expected anybody to actually play the first game—it was just a student game that we originally hosted on the school's website. So it was easier for us to overlook a lack of polish in the first one."

For now Continuity 2 is an iOS exclusive, and the team has no plans for additional content or platforms. With just two people, they're having a hard enough time just trying to get the game noticed. That doesn't mean that there isn't more Continuity to come, though.

"Whatever we do next is going to be as a result of the reaction we get from players and what it seems like they want."

There has to be this comment on every story about a game which is limited to one platform which may not even make up the majority of our smartphone-owning readers. No exceptions. It's our version of Rule 34.

There has to be this comment on every story about a game which is limited to one platform which may not even make up the majority of our smartphone-owning readers. No exceptions. It's our version of Rule 34.

FTFY

I just wonder how long it's going to take people to realize that Android phones are not the place to be for games? I know it's easier to just bellyache during every thread, but damn.

iOS is the place for gaming. That's why I bought an iPad2. Perfect entertainment device at home and during air travel.

Android is for my cellphone, for having a device not limited by draconian rules, and for rebooting every couple days because the darn thing is preloaded with so much unremovable crapware that it eventually has a stroke if you don't. (Yep, may have to root it soon.)

iOS is the place for gaming. That's why I bought an iPad2. Perfect entertainment device at home and during air travel.

Android is for my cellphone, for having a device not limited by draconian rules, and for rebooting every couple days because the darn thing is preloaded with so much unremovable crapware that it eventually has a stroke if you don't. (Yep, may have to root it soon.)

>I'm also not one for time limits in puzzle games, but fine, whatever makes it playable.

I'm one of the developers of Continuity 2. I just wanted to point out that there aren't really time limits in the game. What there are, are optional achievements for beating the level faster than a certain time.

However, you can take as long as you want to beat each level and make your way through the whole game. We never arbitrarily cut you off and make you start over because you took too long.

So what we have is more of a time-trial feature in addition to the normal game. If you want to replay the levels, you can try to go back and beat these preset times.

I'm a little more optimistic than the Android fanboys who previously commented. I just think that this game shows a lot of promise and hope that it grows beyond the confines of hardware that makes no sense for me to purchase, and becomes available on hardware that I already own.

Kudos to the developers. Your game looks unique and inspired.

Hey... it's a shame you can't emulate iOS on the computer. You can kinda do it with Android through the SDK. It's not a very polished solution... and I suppose if it did exist, it would involve installing iTunes... but it could be doable.

>I'm also not one for time limits in puzzle games, but fine, whatever makes it playable.

I'm one of the developers of Continuity 2. I just wanted to point out that there aren't really time limits in the game. What there are, are optional achievements for beating the level faster than a certain time.

However, you can take as long as you want to beat each level and make your way through the whole game. We never arbitrarily cut you off and make you start over because you took too long.

So what we have is more of a time-trial feature in addition to the normal game. If you want to replay the levels, you can try to go back and beat these preset times.

This is a good mechanic. I, too, hate timed levels in games, so this offers those who want it the achievement itch of hitting time goals without limiting the game for everyone else who can't hit them. Given the sometimes frustrating input response issues on the iPad2 I experience with some games (including this one), that's a reasonable way to implement timing. (When it takes several attempts to get it to zoom in or out or get the character to move consistently, actual timed levels would be massively frustrating. Having an option for control button overlays on the screen as an alternate control scheme may go a long way to solving the inconsistent response to gestures.)